mike1213's Profile

The recipe in the video uses small eggs, so I am not sure about quantity for large eggs, which I always buy. The recipe in the video also uses, I assume, which chocolate cut up and added at last minute. I do not why it is not mentioned. Finally, although I have always thought that James Beard's recipes was the best (an 8x8 cake), I am planning to try David Leibovitz's recipe, which has picked up some buzz. I did not love the Supernatural Brownies, although I loved the uncooked batter.

Toby's is only one block south from Giuseppina. It is a bit different with smaller more varied pizzas but the pizzas are all very good and it does open at noon on Friday - Sunday. It has a very good selection of beer on tap.

Her stuffed cabbage recipe is very good. It brought back alot of memories for a bunch of people who really loved it. I have made several other recipes that were good, but did not blow me away. I like the blog although I am stunned by the endless stream of comments saying how great the recipe sounds and looks, without knowing if anyone ever made the dish. Less repetitive worthless praise and more experience would be appreciated.

I live right by the placce so I have been to Bonnie's well over 50 times (or done takeout) over the years. The regime change was over four years ago so the transition has been made. I never had the chicken/bacon/avocado salad. The pulled pork has always been tasty, but impossible to eat because the bun falls apart. I also believe that pulled pork needs cole slaw as a foil, and it is not served that way. The wings are good, the fries are good, the burger is good, but has never, never been juicy enough to be a great burger (my touchstone). I usually have the catfish burger ( a concession ot my cardiologist), and it is good. The last time I had the catfish burger the outside was not crispy enough and my wife thought it was like cat food. I still enjoyed the catfish burger but the comment momentarily tempered my enthusiasm. The beers are good and I have never had a dessert there - the wings and burger and beer kill any enthusiam for that part of the meal.

I use rotisserie chicken for two things - Nancy Silverton's chicken salad with garlic and tarragon mayonaise; and for pita (or flour tortilla) pizzas with barbecue sauce and monterey jack cheese and cilantro. Both dishes are always well received - the pizzas are always a hit with kids - the chicken salad (whi

We had a very nice dinner at Bino on Saturday night with the DIB menu. The meal started with a very nice amuse of white bean bruschetta. The dinner choices were good and the food was very good - four choices for appetizer - the farro salad with sardines and the arugala salad with pickled onions were both good. The four entres were all good - guinea hen with mashed potatoes, salmon, mushroom rissoto, and cavatelli. The desserts were good - again four choices - sorbetto, lime cheesecake, panna cotto and chocolate budno. I came away impressed and will definitely try the restaurant again. The service was good and efficient. The only problem was a big birthday party of 12 very loud people in a small restaruant.

Both Staubitz and Los Paisanos are very good and in Cobble Hill. I would recommend both, but Los Paisanos has the bigger space and more choices on display. In Park Slope there is is the M&S Pork Store on 5th Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets, as well as Union Market on Union & 6th Avenue and on 7th Avenue between 12th & 13th Streeets. With any and every butcher, if you really want something, you should call ahead to see if they have it. If they don't, they can probably have it the next day.

Eagle Provisions on 5th Avenue and 18th Street sell De Cecco brand. Long before there was Union Market and the smaller specialty stores (but other Italian places that were pretty special), I shopped at Eagle to get things that you would not get anywhere else. The store is still pretty special, but not as unique as it once was.

Go to the website -- frenchfridayswithdorie.com. by Dorie Greenspan. There is a recipe for a French apple cake with apple chunks. I have not made it yet, but it does look very good and I just went apple picking last weekend so I have a variey of apples.

My friends with young kids suggest buying a pizza to go from Grimaldi's (to avoid a long line) and then eating it in the park right by Bubby's. The park is very nice with great water views. The walk over the Brooklyn Bridge is always a highlight for everyone who does it. I think Bubby's is okay and would fit the bill.

There are two good recipes in the Zuni Cookbook for farro - one a salad (with a variation) and the other a farrotto. Another dish I make is to cook the farro first (and it only takes about 10 minutes according to the Zuni Cookbook). While the farro is cooking, I make a tomato sauce with some garlic browned a bit first, a large can of tomatoes, salt, pepper and add a little honey (to cut acidity of tomatoes). I then add in farro, a can of good tuna fish and capers, all to taste. The dish is a big favorite in my household.

The price for farro from Italy is in the $6-$7 range. Most recipes call for one cup of farro so you get two meals (or side dishes) out of the 1Lb bag.

Went to Moim in Park Slope and we (all 4) had a very good experience. The selection of appetizers and entrees was good with one dessert. I had the osso buco that was very good. Overall, the portions were good and I enjoyed the dinner alot. I had not been there in over one year and it was a good choice - not fantastic but very good.

I had some neighbors do it last year and they loved it. Unless it changed, M&S (then AS) served appetizers, along with BYOB, and everyone had a great time. In any case, it sounds like a good thing to do with a group of people.

My favorite simple chocolate frosting is from The James Beard Cookbook, Helen Evans Brown chocolate frosting. It is semisweet chocolate (5 oz.) melted, 1/2 cup of sour cream and a little salt. It is impossible to mess up and tastes great. It is a real "go to" chocolate frosting.

The "Market Street Meatloaf" from the Silver Palate's New Basics Cookbook is a truly great meatloaf. It is made with 2 pounds of ground beef and 3/4 pound of sausage (with casing removed). It is far and away my favorite meatloaf

You can eat from the takeout cafe from Fairway in Red Hook and sit looking at the New York City harbor. I think it is pretty cool and certainly casual. In fact, between 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm (when they stop serving) , the prepared sandwiches (as opposed to something then prepared like the lobster roll) are 2 for 1 specials. You can pretty much buy anything in the store and sit outside.

My mom from her grandmother made a great straightforward apple cake - crust and apples. I do not have that recipe. My great recipe is from a 1970's Cuisinart booklet that came with my machine and the recipe is called "Sue Weinstein's German Apple Cake." You do need a food processor to make it. I have made it many, many times and have had friends make it many times.

I have used Del Re's red truck for years and have always been happy. I recently paid $35 for 4 knives (10" chefs, 8" boning, 4 inch pairing and 4 inch Santouku). It is the green truck that people should stay away from (although I have not seen that truck in the last few years). I have also seen Del Re's truck up on the Upper East Side.

I was there two weeks ago with a party of 14 on a Saturday night celebrating my wife's brother's father-in-law's 90th birthday. The back room is big and spacious, although a bit noisy in that there is a high ceiling. The service was good, friendly and unhurried. The food was good in that everyone seemed happy with their dishes. I do not think that anyone raved over their dishes but the menu is straight forward and not particularly ambitious. I had the short ribs which were good, but I have yet to have any that I would rave over (other than Korean short ribs which are "cured" with sugar). I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

On the topic of Farro, Lidia Bastianich did a recipe a few weeks ago using a simple tomato sauce of garlic, one can of peeled tomatoes and 1 tbsp capers, then adding cooked farro and italian tuna (the olive oil based stuff). I have made it several times and it is really simple and very good.